Main Entry:

¹tense

Pronunciation:

\ˈten(t)s\

Function:

noun

Etymology:

Middle English tens time, tense, from Anglo-French, from Latin tempus

Date:

14th century

1: a distinction of form in a verb to express distinctions of time or duration of the action or state it denotes2 a: a set of inflectional forms of a verb that express distinctions of time b: an inflectional form of a verb expressing a specific time distinction